The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled state corrections officials do not have to prevent the heat index from going above 88 degrees on Angola’s death row. Attorney General Jeff Landry says Louisiana argued on appeal that the inmates do not have a constitutional right to be comfortable in jail.
Three death row prisoners filed suit in 2013 arguing excessive heat constituted cruel and unusual punishment, and that remedies are necessary to protect their health and safety. Landry says the Constitution does not require prisons to be comfortable; it requires them to be humane.
The decision overturns the lower court ruling in favor of the inmates’ claim which ordered the state to reduce the heat during the summer months. Landry applauds the Fifth Circuit’s decision and says that these are death row prisoners that shouldn’t be afforded pleasant conditions.